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The game is currently free to play, but have you guys ever considered other games cash shop models to make some money on the side?

As I was leveling my monk with the 2x exp it was going pretty fast and was very fun and leveling him didn't seem like a job. Got his PSI to 90 in that 3x/2ex timeframe. Playing at the normal exp rate is borderline korean grind (compared to the 2x exp of course) and logging in to play with the normal exp rate was boring in comparison. Game just seemed much livelier with people when there was an exp boost going on.

Have you guys ever considered boosting exp rates for accounts for a small price? Hell I know i'd pay a monthly sub for an increased rate of exp for my account lol. There are a few games that not only do exp but also increase credit drop from mobs with a premium types of accounts. Not saying it has to be pricey but with this game being so old why not make a few extra bucks on the side?

Here are some suggestions (of course i'm just throwing out random numbers as an example)

$2 = 2x exp / 30 days
$3 = 3x exp / 30 days
$4 = 4x exp / 30 days
$5 = 5x exp / 30 days

I don't know, its just a suggestion after coming back and playing with the 2x/3x exp vs normal. Can't log in anymore with the normal but man id pay right now for another increase of exp rate that's for dam sure!

Unfortunately the reason we don't charge for anything, is that due to a variety of funteresting legal reason we can't charge for anything. If we could this kind of verges on a pay-to-win side of free to play, which is something we'd always want to avoid. Although with that said I personally think XP boosts are possibly the closest you can get, before things get weird as it evens the field for the 'time-rich' and the 'cash-rich'.

We'd be more than welcoming to hear your ideas on what else might keep you interested, if you're finding the leveling experience (which at base XP is still pretty quick!) a little slow/frustrating.

Funteresting legal reasons = the person responsible cant be arsed to deal with the paperwork involved, because paperwork implies work and some initial cost and a high probability of not making great profits, if any. Neither fun nor interesting, just a big pile of poo.

Sustainable (yet slow) growth is the best I would hope for and expect from it, but apparently that is not good enough. So lets just have some volunteers keep the domains busy and whatever community they can retain, running on pennies to cover the electricity bill. In the meantime, sit on the intellectual property and hope for that magic fairy to turn up and fund NC3 because why not (in the meantime, don't forget to make a sweeping hello on the forums every other year to tell people how much you love them).

While the NST is not to blame for this, I've also not seen much commitment to resolve this limbo.
It is great that volunteers do all this wonderful work. However I would much rather pay to play, if that meant that development could be brought back to a sustainable model. There are indie companies with much less to show for than NC that manage.

NC is still running on life support and that won't change as long as the structural issue is not being resolved.

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Originally Posted by Trivaldi

Unfortunately the reason we don't charge for anything, is that due to a variety of funteresting legal reason we can't charge for anything. If we could this kind of verges on a pay-to-win side of free to play, which is something we'd always want to avoid. Although with that said I personally think XP boosts are possibly the closest you can get, before things get weird as it evens the field for the 'time-rich' and the 'cash-rich'.

We'd be more than welcoming to hear your ideas on what else might keep you interested, if you're finding the leveling experience (which at base XP is still pretty quick!) a little slow/frustrating.

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I guess since i've been playing neocron on an off since 2002 that just doing the long grind to get a character up to snuff with stats/gear/rares just plain gets old. And coming back again and playing with the 3x exp on it was so much fun actually being able to level up a character without having to run circles in reagants for 32 years lol. With the 3x exp can also allow one to make other characters without the sheer fear of another dreadful circle grind.

Again this is just my perception coming from a beta/retail launch neocron to now. Having played all versions of the game through thick and thin, I can honestly say that the 3x was the most fun hands down.

In some game I was playing before NC there was little bonus (10%) to save dice throws and experience gained if you sit 5 minutes in one of many in-game "bunker bars" for hour or till death. We have plenty of clubs in NC, tiki, pussy club, veronique, electric vibes...even MB have one with GR too. Adding something like that could bring life to that places, never seen anyone in ever.
What do you think? For safe zones could be simply Garriot Diner.

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Originally Posted by AlvaroT

In some game I was playing before NC there was little bonus (10%) to save dice throws and experience gained if you sit 5 minutes in one of many in-game "bunker bars" for hour or till death. We have plenty of clubs in NC, tiki, pussy club, veronique, electric vibes...even MB have one with GR too. Adding something like that could bring life to that places, never seen anyone in ever.
What do you think? For safe zones could be simply Garriot Diner.

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It would be really nice to bring a proper function to locations like that in the game world. As a lover of Neocron's atmosphere it seems such a shame there is no "proper use" of all of it's cool social locations. That sounds like a really good way of encouraging the use of such locations. However, for the sake of clarity on your post and the original post, there is a difficulty in implementing alternating XP rates per-character. Currently XP rate is configured on a server wide level. We'd need to do some heavy lifting to alter this fundamental design decision.

Awarding XP bonuses is one of those ideas which makes a huge amount of sense (even if we can't take money) but it's also one of those ideas which would take a lot of work to implement at the detriment of progress elsewhere.

yeah well, as for the money thing: i can understand and approve of not making this commercial. however: perhaps it would be possible to create a club/society/association. this would enable peaople to help who do not have the knowledge or time for programming and generate at least some income via the membership fees. it would also help finance the required game infrastructure. club meetings could be held online. members might be eligible for boni later on... however this of course needs some work, too...

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Originally Posted by chrissi

perhaps it would be possible to create a club/society/association.

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This idea has been already beaten down by Zoltan or respectively Kirk. I made that suggestion as well :|
Apparently its not possible to get a non-profit organization running (with an online game as its focus) in Germany. Otherwise they could receive tax-free donations. Or its too much work besides everything else. Running such an organization requires a not significant amount of management and bureaucracy i guess.

Donating privately to Z is actually a possibility, there is a Paypal account made for the server costs iirc. They just don't advertise that openly since the game is, accordingly to them, not in a state worth charging for. Or something along those lines.

a damn shame. would be such an easy way of helping. at least a bit...

Could it be mission based on using existing code and adding on a variable that counts the XP that you gain in X period of time, then your mission reward is 50-100% of the variable?

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Originally Posted by yavimaya

Could it be mission based on using existing code and adding on a variable that counts the XP that you gain in X period of time, then your mission reward is 50-100% of the variable?

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Or just add missions that give a human fucktonne(c) of xp per completion.

done.

Yes, its simple and easy and I think you might have already thought of it Yavimaya but its so simple its staring everyone in the face.

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Originally Posted by William Antrim

Or just add missions that give a human fucktonne(c) of xp per completion.

done.

Yes, its simple and easy and I think you might have already thought of it Yavimaya but its so simple its staring everyone in the face.

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I think this sort of change will done when they get round to citycom missions.
I mean huge XP missions would be nice, but it kind of seems like more missions running.
would be nice if there was some sort of component that allows people to do what they would normally do during double XP and still gain said double XP - albeit gained later on at quest turn in, etc.

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Originally Posted by Trivaldi

Unfortunately the reason we don't charge for anything, is that due to a variety of funteresting legal reason we can't charge for anything. If we could this kind of verges on a pay-to-win side of free to play, which is something we'd always want to avoid. Although with that said I personally think XP boosts are possibly the closest you can get, before things get weird as it evens the field for the 'time-rich' and the 'cash-rich'.

We'd be more than welcoming to hear your ideas on what else might keep you interested, if you're finding the leveling experience (which at base XP is still pretty quick!) a little slow/frustrating.

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So is there any real possibility of this legal stuff every truly getting resolved or will it be hanging over the the ip until the servers shut down for good?

Not saying this will happen soon but aside the obvious development resources issues this is the big show stopper in strangling any progress for the future. If it was take care of it could be a real benefit to everyone involved in the development of the game and give it a fresh lease on life potentially.

I would like to know legitimately can this legal stuff every be resolved even if it would take a lot of money? Is that a question that could be answered by anyone there or not? If no then fair enough but it doesnt hurt to ask.

Interesting....does the future of NC hang on this? Funds or no funds...


i'd pay....to get my shop out of stasis on bloody Terra :D